William Horsnell

William Horsnell is an immunologist focusing primarily on how helminth infections alter host immunity. He looks at how helminth elicited host responses influence host ability to control both the helminth infection and unrelated diseases. He studies these effects both using both model infections and also in human studies. Dr Horsnell is based at both the Universities of Birmingham and Cape Town.

Qualifications

• PhD in Cell Biology, Royal Veterinary College, London 2001
• BSc (Hons) Applied Zoology, University of Leeds 1996

Biography

Horsnell studies host immunity to helminths as these infections are very common and exert a profound influence on our immune system. Helminth infections lead to both transient and long lasting changes to host immunity. These effects on our immune system are important and influence how we can control both the helminth and unrelated infections. Horsnell is particularly interested in how helminths regulate host immunity by modulating a number of anti-helminth components released by the host.

In addition he looks at how exposure to both host adapted and zoonotic helminth infection change host susceptibility to a number of other diseases. These include respiratory syncytial virus, salmonella, tuberculosis and allergy. We also study the effects of helminth infection on both parasite colonised anatomical sites e.g. the intestine and lung as well as systemic effects at body sites the parasite does not colonise.

Our work utilises both basic animal models of disease as well as human studies.

Research

Themes

Regulation of Host immunity by helminths, pulmonary immunity, neurotransmitter regulation of immunity.

Lay Summary

My research aims to identify how we launch immune response to control parasitic worm infections and how parasitic worms have adapted to influence this immunity. This approach has resulted in my team identifying novel mediators of protective immunity against these parasites and also to shed new understanding as to how these parasitic infections can change our immunity to other infections. Additionally, this work allows us to further understand how parasites regulate our immunity and if this regulation can be utilised for treating immune related pathologies, especially in the lung.

Overview

Our principle approach is to use in vivo models of helminth infection to dissect how these parasites are controlled by a host and how these host responses to the helminth influence the development of immune responses to other pathogens/diseases. We utilise primary, secondary and trans-generational models of helminth infection to identify how these different modes of exposure to helminths influence host control of infection. Moreover, we utilise existing and generate novel transgenic mouse models to test the significance of host molecular correlates of immunity to the helminths. We also examine how these different modes of exposure change host ability to launch immune responses to unrelated bacterial, viral, fungal infections as well as non-infectious diseases. These approaches have led to us identifying how non-canonical host responses to infection significantly contribute to immunity to helminths. The hypotheses generated from these studies are then tested in appropriate human cohort studies.

Ongoing research themes

• Host immunity to primary, secondary and maternal exposure to the model parasitic helminth Nippostrongylus brasiliiensis.
• How helminth infections alter immunity to viral infection of mucosal tissue.
• Influence of helminth infection on the onset of mycobacterial infection and disease in mice and humans
• Helminth exposure and risk of allergy in humans in Northern Europe and Southern Africa
• Role of Surfactant Proteins A and D in immunity to parasitic and viral infections.
• Generating novel transgenic mouse models to define the significance of immune cell production and responsiveness to acetylcholine